Device for combining streams of rod-shaped objects



Nov. 23, 1965 M. R. BOINNARD 3,219,167 I DEVICE FOR COMBINING STREAMS OF ROD-SHAPED OBJECTS Filed Nov. 13, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 1965 M. R. BOINNARD DEVICE FOR COMBINING STREAMS OF ROD-SHAPED OBJECTS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 15, 1962 ATTORNEY Nov. 23, 1965 M. R. BOINNARD DEVICE FOR COMBINING STREAMS OF ROD-SHAPED OBJECTS 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov. 15, 1962 llllllllll i The present invention relates to a device for combining streams of objects having the shape of rods and especially of cigarettes brought in, for example, from the two-way receipt of a cigarette-making machine.

The device is thus more particularly intended to receive cigarettes which are delivered in a double line onto the receiving belt of a making machine with two-way receipt and to combine said cigarettes into a single line with a view, for example, to filling an automatic cigarettecollector in a single operation.

The resulting single stream can flow either in the same direction or in a direction which is parallel to that of the constituent streams if these latter are parallel, or alternatively in an opposite direction. The said single stream can flow either in the same plane or in a plane which is different to that of said constituent streams.

The present invention has for its object to permit of all the arrangements which can be found desirable by reason of the fact, for example, that lack of space makes it impossible to fit an automatic cigarette-collector beneath the receiving belt of the making machine. Finally, the device in accordance with the invention must subsequently permit the top-to-tail reversal of the cigarettes.

Further characteristic features of the invention will be brought out by the description which follows below and which relates to a number of forms of embodiment of the invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation of one form of embodiment of the device in accordance with the invention as employed for the purpose of combining two streams of cigarettes supplied from the two-way receipt of a cigarette-making machine;

FIG. 2 is a plan view, with a portion broken away, of the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view in side elevation of a second form of embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a plan view with a portion broken away corresponding to FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view in side elevation of another example of construction of the device in accordance with the invention as also employed for the purpose of combining two streams of cigarettes issuing from the two-way receipt of a cigarette-making machine, and

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the device of FIG. 5.

In the example which is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the device comprises as a distributor device a double barrel constituted by two drums 1, 1 which are placed side by side and integral with each other, and which are fitted with flanges 4 having recesses 3, 3. The said double barrel is mounted to rotate freely on the shaft 2 and the recesses 3, 3' are disposed along generator-lines at angular distances, or pitches, which correspond along the periphery to twice the diameter of each cigarette approximately. The recesses 3 of the drum 1' are displaced by one half-pitch with respect to the recesses 3 of the drum 1. An endless-belt conveyor 5 is mounted above the double barrel 1, 1 and is fitted with cross- 3,219,17 Patented Nov. 23, 1965 ice strips 6 which form compartments, the axes of which are parallel to the axis of the shaft 2. The distance between two consecutive cross-strips 6 is equal to the developed half-pitch of the pitch of the barrel 1, 1' and the position of the belt conveyor is such that the cross-strips 6 mesh in alternate sequence with the spurs formed between the recesses of the drums 1, 1'. A smooth travelling band 7 is located beneath the belt conveyor 5 and is inclined at an angle of 45 with respect to this latter and terminates at one of the bottom corners of the conveyor 5. The component in the direction of movement of the conveyor 5, of the velocity of displacement of the travelling band 7 is equal to the velocity of said conveyor 5. The top portion of the barrel 1, 1, the top run of the travelling band 7 and the bottom run 9 of the conveyor 5 are substantially at the same level. Between the barrel 1, 1' and the travelling band 7 and beneath the surface of the bottom run 9, there is mounted a smooth platform 8 in such manner that this latter is tangent to the cylinder 11 which is formed by the bottom of the recesses 3 and extend between the flanges 4 of the double barrel 1, 1' so as to form two tongues 10 on which are deposited the cigarettes which are held at the ends thereof inside the recesses 3.

Two stationary walls 12, 12' are disposed on each side of the conveyor 5 and two shells 13, 14 are mounted at the ends of the conveyor 5 against the wall 12.

The streams of cigarettes to be combined are brought in by the receiving belts 15, 15' and the single stream which results from the combination of said streams is carried away by the delivery belt 16.

The operation of the device which has just been described takes place in the following manner:

The barrel 1, 1' receives the cigarettes one by one from the receiving belts 15, 15 by means of the bridges 17, 17 and as the width of the recesses 3, 3' is substantially equal to the diameter of the cigarettes, there is received only one cigarette in each recess 3 or 3. The cigarettes are accordingly placed between two cross-strips 6 of the top belt conveyor 5 and carried along by this latter.

One section 1 of the barrel deposits its cigarettes in the even-numbered spaces provided by the cross-strips 6 of the conveyor-belt 5 while the other section 1 of said barrel deposits its cigarettes in the odd-numbered spaces. There is thus only one cigarette between two consecutive cross-strips.

The cigarettes are discharged from the barrel and pass over the tongue 10 or 10 which forms the front portion of the platform 8; they are then drawn over said platform by the cross-strips 6 until they reach the smooth band 7 upon which they are conveyed at an oblique angle up to the opposite portion of the cross-strip belt-conveyor 5 and abuttingly aligned against the stationary wall 12 of the device. The cigarettes can be guided further by the shell 13 which holds them between the cross-strips 6 up to the top run of the belt-conveyor 5 on which they are then brought forwards and can then be taken again to a level which is higher than that of the receiving belt so as to pass beneath the shell 14 and then be transferred to the delivery belt 16.

In the example of construction which is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, those members which are either identical or similar to those of FIGS. 1 and 2 are designated by the same reference numerals.

The combined assembly of the distributor 1, 1' and belt conveyor 5 which is identical to that of FIGS. 1 and 2 will accordingly not be described again.

In this form of embodiment, the platform 8 extends up to the shell 13 which is in turn connected to the shell 14- by means of an envelope or casing 19, which the result that the belt conveyor is completely enclosed over the entire path followed by the cigarettes from the receiving belts 15, to the single delivery belt 16.

The displacement of the cigarettes inside the compartments formed by the cross-strips 6 of the conveyor 5 is effected by means of a nozzle which is designed to blow compressed air and passes through the flange .12 at the level of the cross-strips 6. The air-blowing process can be either continuous or non-continuous and, in this latter case, an appropriate mechanism such as a valve or diaphragm closes off and disengages the nozzle 20 in synchronism with the movement of the conveyor 5.

The operation of the device which has just been described takes place as follows:

The cigarettes which arrive on the receiving belts 15, 15 are carried up to the recesses 3, 3 of the barrel 1, 1'. The said cigarettes are then taken between the crossstrips 6 of the belt conveyor 5 which engage in alternate sequence in the recesses 3, 3'. The cigarettes are then deposited onto the tongues 10, 10' which are in fact only extended portions of the platform 8 which is cut out to a suitable shape so as to fit between the flanges 4, 4' of the drums 1, 1'. Being accordingly set one by one between the cross-strips 6 and held between these latter by the shell 8-13, the said cigarettes are then caused to slide axially between said cross-strips under the action of the compressed-air jet supplied through the nozzle 20, and are thus placed in a single row which is taken by the delivery belt 16 and packed in a single operation into a cigarette-tray.

In the example which is illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, the cigarettes arrive in two parallel streams on the receiving belts 22, 22 and are caused to slide from these latter over bridges 29 and into compartments formed by the cross-strips 32, 32 of endless-belt conveyors 21, 21'.

Beneath the left-hand extremities of the belt conveyors 21, 21, there is located a drum 23 having both an upper and a lower open face, which is rotatably mounted on the shaft 33 and which is provided with radial compartments 24 which are formed by walls 34 arranged in zigzag configuration and fitted into the hub 25. The said walls 34 have two radial portions 35, 36 of slightly greater length than each cigarette and a transverse portion 3'7 of slightly greater length than the diameter of each cigarette. Each compartment 24 is intended to hold two cigarettes.

A fixed plate or platform 27 is mounted beneath the drum 23 and an eccentric or cam 28 is mounted at the level of said plate in such manner that, in the diametral plane which passes through the ends of the belt conveyors 21, 21, said eccentric or cam is tangent to the hub on one side and is tangent to the portions 37 of the compartment walls on the other side. In this diametral plane, the platform 27 is pierced with an opening which permits the cigarettes to drop onto a delivery belt 30.

Shells 38 at the top ends of the belt conveyors 21, 21' guide the fall of the cigarettes into the compartments 24 of the drum 23.

The operation of the device which has just been described in the foregoing takes place as follows:

The cigarettes arrive in perfectly aligned condition, side by side in two parallel lines on the conveyor belts 22, 22 which proceed from the two-way receipt of the making machine.

The cigarettes are transferred from the receiving belts 22, 22' of the cigarette-making machine onto the two parallel belt conveyors 21, 21' with cross-strips 32, 32' by means of bridges 29 which prevent the possibility of two cigarettes being taken by a same cross-strip 32.

The belt conveyors 21, 21 with cross-strips then lift or convey the cigarettes up to a level above the drum 23 and when reaching this point, the cigarettes are deposited by said belt conveyor-s inside the compartments 24. The cigarettes which slide ofi the receiving conveyor 21 come into position against the portions 35 of the compartment partitions whilst the cigarettes which slide off the receiving conveyor 21' come into position against the portions 36 of said compartment partitions. The cigarettes also rest on the platform 27.

The drum 23 pushes the cigarettes over the metal platform 27 which is suitably burnished and the eccentric 28 produces action in such manner that the cigarettes which are located near the center are accordingly pushed out into the outer compartments. On completion of one half-revolution of the drum, each cigarette supplied from one stream takes up the space which was free in front of each cigarette supplied from the other stream at the outer portion of the drum.

After the barrel has performed one half-revolution, the cigarettes which are aligned side by side at the exterior of the compartments drop onto the delivery belt 30 which feeds, for example, an automatic cigarette-collector.

It will be understood that the invention is not in any way limited to the details of construction which have been illustrated and described and which have been given solely by way of example.

What I claim is:

1. In a device for combining a plurality of streams of rod-shaped objects, comprising conveyor means for conveying rod-shaped objects in parallel rows and in a plurality of parallel lines and in a direction transverse to their lengths, a fixed platform support having an abutment edge Wall mounted in such manner as to receive said objects when escaping from said conveyor means, a rotary drum having upper and lower open faces, said drum having an axis of rotation, and having radial projecting members having substantially the length of said objects, said radial members having connecting members each having a length slightly greater than the diameter of said objects thereby forming zigzag walls delimiting radial compartments adapted to receive said objects, said drum being mounted in such manner as to have its lower open face parallel with said fixed platform support, said lower face being spaced away at a smaller distance from said support than the diameter of said rod-shaped objects, means for pushing said objects lengthwise on said support in the radial direction of said compartments away from said axis of rotation to bring said objects into a single row in abutment with said edge wall of said support, and delivery means for moving said objects away from said support.

2. In a device according to claim 1, said means for pushing said objects in-the radial direction of said compartments on said support comprising a fixed circular wall eccentrically mounted with respect to said rotary drum, said wall being located between said fixed platflorm support and said lower open face of said rotary rum.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,652,138 9/1953 Jackson 198-32 3,036,581 5/1962 Dearsley 19832 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,122,251 9/ 1956' France.

HUGO O. SCHULZ, Primary Examiner.

EDWARD A. SROKA, SAMUEL F. COLEMAN,

Examiners. 

1. IN A DEVICE FOR COMBINING A PLURALITY OF STREAMS OF ROD-SHAPED OBJECTS, COMPRISING CONVEYOR MEANS FOR CONVEYING ROD-SHAPED OBJECTS IN PARALLEL ROWS AND IN A PLURALITY OF PARALLEL LINES AND IN A DIRECTION TRANSVERSE TO THEIR LENGTHS, A FIXED PLATFORM SUPPORT HAVING AN ABUTMENT EDGE WALL MOUNTED IN SUCH MANNER AS TO RECEIVE SAID OBJECTS WHEN ESCAPING FROM SAID CONVEYOR MEANS, A ROTARY DRUM HAVING UPPER AND LOWER OPEN FACES, SAID DRUM HAVING AN AXIS OF ROTATION, AND HAVING RADIAL PROJECTING MEMBERS HAVING SUBSTANTIALLY THE LENGTH OF SAID OBJECTS, SAID RADIAL MEMBERS HAVING CONNECTING MEMBERS EACH HAVING A LENGTH SLIGHTLY GREATER THAN THE DIAMETER OF SAID OBJECTS THEREBY FORMING ZIGZAG WALLS DELIMITING RADIAL COMPARTMENTS ADAPTED TO RECEIVE SAID OBJECTS, SAID DRUM BEING MOUNTED IN SUCH MANNER AS TO HAVE ITS LOWER OPEN FACE PARALLEL WITH SAID FIXED PLATFORM SUPPORT, SAID LOWER FACE BEING SPACED AWAY AT A SMALLER DISTANCE FROM SAID SUPPORT THAN THE DIAMETER OF SAID ROD-SHAPED OBJECTS, MEANS FOR PUSHING SAID OBJETS LENGTHWISE ON SAID SUPPORT IN THE RADIAL DIRECTION OF SAID COMPARTMENTS AWAY FROM SAID AXIS OF ROTATION TO BRING SAID OBJECTS INTO A SINGLE ROW IN ABUTMENT WITH SAID EDGE WALL OF SAID SUPPORT, AND DELIVERY MEANS FOR MOVING SAID OBJECTS AWAY FROM SAID SUPPORT. 